And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

I believe almost all of us are familiar with this verse. When things don’t seem to be going well, we often encourage each other, saying, “All things work together for good”. This has proven to be true in my life multiple times. And today I’m here to share one of those stories.

The Situation

Being the only Christian in the family, I had to face some resistance at home. It was hard for me to pray, read the Bible, or even write notes. My family would hide my Bible and notes, and it was a struggle to maintain them and spend time with the Word of God every day. I could use apps to replace them but I preferred the physical books. This was my life for so long that the phrase – “things work together for good” didn’t seem to make sense in those days.

The Solution

I was looking for a way to make things possible and eventually, my exams were getting closer. During my preparation, I used to go to our terrace to study. Along with the textbooks, I would also carry my Bible to read and meditate on His Word. I was happy with that because even if my family hid the Bible, I could buy another one. But it’s different with the notes. I needed a way to hide my notebook or at least make it look like it was not related to the Bible.

I was studying math one day and noticed Greek letters like alpha (α), beta (β), etc. that are commonly used in the subject. Then it sparked in my mind and I got the idea to replace English letters with Greek equivalents while writing notes. For example, A would be alpha(α), B would be beta(β), and so on. Eventually, I got used to this way of writing and became fluent at reading it as well.

The Realization

One day, I happened to see a video of a man questioning the things written in the Bible, mostly the New Testament. I wanted to have answers, in case someone comes to me with such questions. As the New Testament is originally written in Greek, I’ve downloaded a Greek bible called Textus Receptus. I thought I had to learn the Greek language but when I opened it, I was able to read it already! Turns out, this is the same script God trained me with for writing my notes. I’ve been writing in the same language all along!

That’s when I realized why God allowed such situations in my initial days. Without them, I would not have this language.

Conclusion

When it looks like all doors are closed and there’s no way out, it doesn’t mean you’ll live like that forever. It could be because God wants to open a new door with a new hope. All I was longing for was some time and place for daily devotion and God provided that with a bonus of a new language. It’s one of many ways God works. And yes, I’m convinced that all things work together for good.

P.S. If you’re interested, here’s a brief introduction about me on the author page.